The Rays got by during their 6 wins in a row with great pitching, but even during those 6 games they did a poor job in situational hitting, mainly runner on 3rd and less than 2. It really hurt them in the O's game today when they once had a bases loaded with Crawford and Upton coming up, probably their two best hitters and neither one could get the run in. They also had 1st and 2nd, 0 outs and the batter failed to get the runners over (I would have bunted Bartlett in that situation, even down 3, still early). They really need to start finding their strokes because the pitching can't carry them forever, even during the 6 game winning streak they did not hit well at all, and they did have their chances. Today the Rays poor situational hitting might have even cost them the game.
Looks like Hammel is the odd man out, but he does not have any more options so it will be interesting what they will do, I think karands (sorry if I spelled it wrong) thought they would make a trade which might not be a bad idea if they do not think Hammel can pitch in the pen, they do need a 6th starter though and I don't think any of the younger guys are ready except for Nieman who we have already seen.
If Crawford and Upton were the ones coming up short, maybe they are feeling a little pressure or not getting a good enough pitch selection. Perhaps, there might be an unsigned veteran out there that could help. Crawford and Upton already voiced their opinion about who could hep. He was one of the top 3 homerun hitters(ratio) in the NL last year and got on base almost half of the time. Just a thought that you asked for.
I think Nieman would fill in good in the 6 spot, Hammel is done here, he has no pop, he is a control finesse pitcher that seems easy to hit. We saw that from him last year, his ERA this year shows the same. His preformance tonight was not good at all, and seems to have made managements decision easy for who should lose the rotation spot when Kaz comes back, but then again, unless Im mistaken, Sonnestine gets his shot tonight, but I think Sonnestine has much more upside then Hammel, I like the quirky delivery and he does have a much better K ratio then Hammel, Sonnestine has a much higher ceiling then Hammel, Hammel I agree has no reason to be in the pen, I dont see where he could even help us there, his forte is to be an inning eater from the starter spot, but goin 2.2 isnt what we need.
Hammel was behind every hitter last night, and you cannot constantly pitch from behind and be successful. I agree that Hammel is on his way out.
Kazmir and Shields are the only starters that are locked in to their starting positions with all others in competition for the remaining three spots. Hopefully, by the end of this road trip, the starting rotation will be solidified for the rest of the year.
At this point a 4-5 road trip record would be rather satisfying.
If your talking about Bonds, once again, no thanks. It's a HUGE distraction this young team does not need and is not used to, and they aren't going to spend the $ for Bonds anyway, and Maddon has already pretty much stated he does not want Bonds at all, and most Rays fans will agree with me in saying that we do not want him either.
The bullpen will continue to get wins. The Red Sox have outstanding pitchers and the Rays had a tough time scoring but still won. In 2006 the Tigers had a fantastic bull pen, nothing else and they went to the World Series. The pitching will win games. So don't worry. It's a long season and the hitting will happen too. Think about this, when both the hitting and pitching click we are going to win even more this year. Nobody in MLB believes in the Rays and are not paying attention to them either. GO RAYS!
Well with todays move of Glover to the DL and Hammel to the Pen and Reyes' setback they got some breathing room. The problem is they are going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later.
